Underdog stories do not get much bigger than this. For the first time in their history, Salford Red Devils are in the Super League Grand Final. This is a sentence which, if it had been written in January when the preseason predictions were being made, would have been met with utter derision. But that is the scale of the story we are dealing with here.
Make no mistake about it, the reigning champions were not just beaten here – they were utterly humiliated against a Salford side who now stand on the verge of a first title in 43 years. The second-lowest spenders in the competition have bucked the trend with a group of players who were largely overlooked by other clubs. Many observers fancied them for relegation rather than the Grand Final Old Trafford.
Only a year ago they secured Super League survival on the final day of the season. This is not any ordinary turnaround – this is a story unlike any other seen in rugby league’s recent history. The prize for the Red Devils is a date four miles down the road at Old Trafford, with only St Helens now standing between Ian Watson’s side and the title.
Surprisingly, given the depth of the teams’ respective experiences of play-off rugby, Salford settled much the quicker of the two sides. They took an early lead when Krisnan Inu kicked a penalty to make it 2-0, before Zak Hardaker’s wayward kick-off from the restart immediately piled the pressure back on to the Warriors.
Inu then made it 4-0 with another penalty, and the Warriors’ woes continued, both with the ball and without it. And the pressure they placed on themselves let Salford set up camp on the Wigan line – a strategy which yielded reward after 20 minutes when they deservedly extended their lead.
A wonderful inside pass from Tyrone McCarthy laid the platform for ex-Wigan forward Gil Dudson to roll his way over the line, and with Inu converting the try to make it 10-0, the visitors were in complete control against all the odds. Wigan needed a response with half-time approaching but the loss of their half-back Tommy Leuluai to a concussion stunted their rhythm.
The Warriors’ most reliable performers in attack were clearly off their game, although Salford deserved immense credit for the way their last-ditch defending was keeping their opponents scoreless. And they gained further reward on the stroke of half-time when further indiscipline from Wigan allowed Inu to kick a third penalty of the half, making it 12-0.
Would half-time stir the home side into life? Not a chance. Within five minutes of the restart, Joey Lussick’s instinctive finish from dummy-half made it 18-0, and a laboured, out-of-sorts Wigan side looked beaten.
Two former Wigan forwards in Dudson and Lee Mossop then combined on the hour to send the latter over, and with another penalty from Inu making it 28-0, it was now well and truly over. Wigan at least avoided the ignominy of being nilled when Bevan French scored late on, but it was scant consolation by that stage.
Salford centre Jake Bibby said afterwards: “I can’t sum it up. I’m lost for words. To turn a team like Wigan over 28-4 is madness.”
Wigan Hardaker; Marshall, Hankinson, Gildart, Burgess; Williams, Leuluai; Flower, Powell, Partington, Isa, Farrell, O’Loughlin. Interchange Clubb, Byrne, Smithies, French.
Salford Evalds; Sio, Welham, Bibby, Inu; Lolohea, Hastings; Mossop, Tomkins, Dudson, Jones, Griffin, McCarthy. Interchange Lussick, Flanagan, Walker, Burke.
Referee B Thaler